


Awkward Beginnings

by assholeachilleus



Series: Deaf!jon au [6]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Canon Asexual Character, Deaf!Jon, F/F, M/M, Trans!Martin, georgie and martin bonding, honestly this is just tooth rotting fluff, jon deserves some fluff after the last fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:08:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28382994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/assholeachilleus/pseuds/assholeachilleus
Summary: Martin Blackwood really didn't know what the etiquette was for meeting your current boyfriend's ex-girlfriend, and the ex-girlfriend's current girlfriend. It goes much better than expected. This is part of my deaf!jon au but can be read alone.
Relationships: Georgie Barker/Melanie King, Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist
Series: Deaf!jon au [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2072478
Comments: 10
Kudos: 94





	Awkward Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't actually intend to write this...like at all. But I wanted some fluff and this is honestly just purely self-indulgent. I adore the idea of Georgie and Martin bonding over how weird Jon is jkdjkjks. Constructive criticism is always welcome, and kudos and comments are very much appreciated. Hope you enjoy!

Martin honestly thought meeting Georgie would be weird. I mean, where do you even start with that? With your boyfriends ex. And Martin had been even more surprised that Jon had suggested it in the first place. 

But as soon as Martin walked into the warm, welcoming flat he knew everything would be alright. It was reminiscent of his own in a way; numerous decorative pillows strewn about, the inviting scent of cinnamon hanging hazy in the air like early morning mist, and mismatched footstools dotted sporadically about, deliciously chaotic in their variation of colour, pattern, and texture. 

Georgie herself was also a surprise. She was shorter than Martin had been expecting, with a rich complexion, and a style that screamed vintage charity shop, her own clothes a mismatch of colour, pattern, and texture. 

Her girlfriend, Melanie, was the complete opposite. Whereas Georgie was all kind words spoken softly, with a poetic quality Martin found himself envious of, Melanie's were sharp like a blade and just as deadly. 

Georgie poured them some wine and they settled, the night miraculously undramatic aside from the fact that Melanie and Jon didn't seem to get along.

It was sort of humorous, Martin mused. Everyone tended to hang off Jon's words, spoken with such passion and knowledge that it created an academic trance of sorts. 

But Melanie would instead make snide remarks, eyes glinting with a challenge Jon never failed to rise to. 

Martin suspected at least part of it was an act. That somewhere along the road actual dislike had nurtured into grudging tolerance, and had eventually kindled into a friendship that burned with the same intensity as fire, and was just as fierce.

After Jon and Melanie had got into another heated debate, Martin decided he needed some air. So he stood and exited the flat. 

The cool night air reached out to him with its grasping hands, chilled fingers caressing every inch of his exposed skin, causing goose bumps to ripple outwards in a refreshing wave. 

Martin watched as the inky darkness spread across the street like spilt water, barely pierced by the low eerie glow of the street lights. 

The neighbours were silhouetted black against the yellow glow in their houses, the light spilling out and under the cracks in their doors and windows, to be swallowed whole by the stretching darkness. 

Martin heard soft footsteps tapping against the pavement as someone came to stand next to him. 

He was expecting Jon, he had no idea how long he'd been out here. The darkness had blanketed further, the street lights seemed a bit dimmer. 

"It's freezing out here." Georgie complained, wrapping a patchwork coat tighter around her plump figure. 

"Yeah." Martin agreed, although truthfully he didn't feel the cold much. The gold hoops in Georgie's ears swayed and clinked in the light breeze. 

"Everything alright?" 

Martin nodded, nose prickling from the cold. 

"Yeah, I, um, sometimes. And this, this isn't about you. But sometimes socialising can all get a bit...much?" 

Georgie hummed knowingly, buttoning her coat up higher. 

"I get that. Jon's the same really. At uni I'd drag him to some party, and half an hour later he'd beg me to leave." She laughed, high and bright like the tolling of church bells and just as captivating.

"He seems to be enjoying himself tonight." Martin smiled, feeling his cheeks stinging under Georgie's soft gaze. 

"Oh don't mind them." Georgie smiled, her teeth brilliantly white against her dark complexion. "They're always like that. They do care about each other really." 

Martin laughed softly. "Yeah, I think you can tell. Underneath all the, um, fighting." 

Georgie's eyes scanned across the dark street, the yellows and whites reflected in her eyes. The street looked oily and slick where rain had fallen, and the smell of damp earth hung in the air like a memory. 

A beat of silence passed. "Are you enjoying it?" 

Martin's eyebrows raised unexpectedly. 

"Oh, um, yeah. Yeah, it's, er, it's been really fun." 

Georgie smiled again. Martin idly considered that maybe that was how her face naturally fell. She had that buzz of someone who always seemed content, who radiated light and happiness and warmth as naturally as the sun. 

"Really? I know it might be a bit weird, since, well, we've both dated Jon." 

Martin pulled his hands tighter into his pockets. 

"Honestly, I, er, I thought it might be too. But, um, you're so nice. And, I can, I guess I can see, er, what he saw." 

Georgie clicked her tongue. "Wow, he really got lucky with you." Martin felt his cheeks tingling. No one had ever said that to him before. 

"I, er-" 

His ramblings were cut short. "No. He did." Her voice was stern but her eyes were soft, as were her fingers as they delicately reached out and squeezed Martin's arm. 

Comfortable silence fell between them like an old friend. 

Georgie suddenly turned to face Martin, her earrings tinkling, a mischievous glint in her dark eyes. 

"You know when I first met Jon I thought he was putting on that voice to impress me." Georgie's tone was light with playfulness, a beautiful smile blooming across her face like the first flowers of spring. 

Martin gasped. "So did I!" She laughed high and light, tilting her head ever so slightly to rest it gently against his warm arm. 

Martin found he was laughing too. 

"Does he, um, did he, er, talk to his books when you were together?" Georgie laughed, slightly hysterically, and Martin worried her head might fall off from her vigorous nodding. 

"Yeah! Yeah he did." She sighed. "The amount of times I would come back to our dorm and wonder who he was talking to, only to find out it was some dusty old book." 

Georgie deepened her voice in a very accurate imitation of Jon. 

"It's a classic, Georgie." Martin giggled, the kind of laugh bourn of childish delight, drunk and slightly controllable in a way he didn't think he could stop even if he wanted to. 

Georgie shivered, wrapping her arms tighter around herself. 

"Does he still manage to wear his glasses perpetually crooked?" 

"Yes! I have to straighten them all the time!" Martin gushed, the words bursting out of him like they'd been trapped in this chest all along, begging to be set free. "Like does he not look in the mirror?" 

Georgie's whole body was still shaking, but this time with laughter. A drunk laughter that rippled from her throat and echoed in circular waves out into the still night. 

"And, and, I, er, I've checked. The glasses themselves are fine. It's, it's just him." 

Martin and Georgie shared a look and dissolved into giddy laughter, their cheeks warm, and their chests light. 

Their faces and chests started to ache, but it was the soft ache of found family and new friends, a shared joy that burst between them and settled in their stomachs. 

Martin sighed, feeling the childish hysteria die down, a calmness wrapping around him once more.

Except Georgie snorted and it set them off again. Martin could feel how flushed his cheeks were. 

He had no idea how long they stood like that, Georgie leaning against his arm as though the laughter that rippled out of her was draining her ability to stand alone. 

Martin couldn't remember a time when he'd been this deliriously happy. 

They must've been out there a while, because the sky had extended its dark reaching hands, extinguishing the eerie glow of the street lamps, and swallowing the tiny pin pricks of bright stars. 

Jon came out to find them at some point, shoulders hunched against the biting cold, hands curled tightly where they were stuffed into his pockets. 

The sight of him set Georgie and Martin laughing again, and Jon's voice was indignantly high when he asked what was so funny.

Eventually, Martin pulled himself together enough to reassure him it was nothing. Although his voice was a tad higher than usual. 

"Yeah, it's freezing out here." Georgie said, eyes bright with playfulness. "Let's get you both inside." 

The rest of the evening passed in the blissful comfort of cosy couches and copious amounts of wine. Martin even found himself warming to Melanie, delighting in the way she teased Jon. 

And when they left Georgie's with the sky turning an inky blue, the hum of people quiet in the distance, and with Jon wrapping his own cold fingers around Martin's, Martin felt warm in a way he hadn't known before.


End file.
